Social Dynamics of Insurgency in Nigeria -By Tope Shola Akinyetun

Recent events however show that the processes of industrialization, urbanization and democratization that characterize these contemporary times has put social cohesion under pressure. The good moral standards, respect for the law, the king, religious codex, and family have now been eroded thus giving room to social exclusion and frustration.

Introduction

Insurgency is one of the most contentious issues that Nigerian society has been bedevilled with in recent times. The Boko Haram sect, initially the Nigerian Taliban, has attracted enormous attention from the government, citizens, intelligentsias, civil society organizations, policymakers and the international community. It was started by Mohammed Yusuf in the city of Maiduguri to establish a Sharia government in Borno state. Report has it that Ali Modu Sheriff, the gubernatorial candidate of Borno state solicited the support of Yusuf’s youth movement for electoral support, in exchange for full implementation of Sharia and promises of government positions. The government never implemented a full Sharia. Yusuf who felt used and discarded after the government failed to honour their terms of agreement went on to form Boko Haram.

However, several attempts have been made to curtail the excesses of the group including military onslaught and negotiation. The government even tried to negotiate with the sect and offered it amnesty, this was rejected by its leader Abubakar Shekau – who took over after the demise of Yusuf. Since coming under the leadership of Shekau, the sect became radicalized and is responsible for several dastardly attacks that have led to the devastating destruction of life and property. The group has launched attacks in northern cities including Abuja – the federal capital territory –, Bauchi, Damaturu, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Maiduguri, and Yobe. To be sure, Boko Haram attacks have ruined many local investments and discouraged foreign investment. An example is a group of investors from Germany who wanted to build a cement factory in Maiduguri who were forced to jettison the plan and move to another African country. In other words, the attacks have not only led to wanton deaths, human rights abuses and unprecedented displacement, it has also resulted in humanitarian crisis and huge economic costs for the country and the affected communities.

A plenitude of factors such as bad governance, poverty, unemployment, religious sentiment, marginalization, grievance and corruption have been identified as the plausible reasons for the rise and festering of insurgency in Nigeria. Weeraratne argues that the evolution of the group and the trajectory of violence are best explained through four overlapping theoretical strands. These include the growing fragmentation of the movement,  development of strategic ties with  Al  Qaeda affiliates,  strong-armed counterterrorism operations that further radicalized the movement, and exploitation of the porous border area that separates Nigeria from its northern neighbour. This essay, however, extends this discussion by examining the insufficiently explored social dynamics; social cohesion and social exclusion, that gave impulse to the rise of insurgency in Nigeria.

Social Cohesion

Social cohesion refers to the feeling of solidarity and togetherness shared by citizens of a given society. It is the presence of mutual trust and confidence in other individuals that could promote inter-personal and institutional trust; provision of good governance and eradication of corruption; active participation in matters of national interest, and respect for the constitution and respecting the law (to ensure a significantly low or absence of a crime in the society). More so, the idea of organic solidarity proposed by Durkheim applies to a differentiated society like Nigeria. When contextualized in modern society, organic solidarity requires citizens to be dependent on each other (like the organs in a body); an action that builds trust, cohesion, and inclusion. Recent events however show that the processes of industrialization, urbanization and democratization that characterize these contemporary times has put social cohesion under pressure. The good moral standards, respect for the law, the king, religious codex, and family have now been eroded thus giving room to social exclusion and frustration. And as UNDP notes, “the effects of frustration nurtures rebellion and apathy among the majority of the citizenry and brings about insurgency, restiveness, terrorism, violence and such as anti-social activities”

The above view finds expression in Iyekekpolor’s submission that exclusion engenders identity differentiation which is characterized by faction, competition and antagonism. In his words:

“… when factions of political elites compete for political power at the national level on an identity basis, identity groups emerge at the subnational level in defence of these identities. Secondly, identity groups gain political relevance when factions of the political elites ascribe such relevance to them in the process of competing for political power. Thirdly, when a fundamentalist identity group becomes political relevant, it makes fundamental demands which spark antagonism between it and the political elites. Finally, insurgencies based on fundamentalist identity claims go unchecked in a partial democracy with political elites factionalized along identity lines.”

In other words, the efficacy of social cohesion is weakened by social exclusion which allows for differences, conflict and antagonism to thrive thus giving impetus to fundamentalist-based crime such as insurgency. This is because the feeling of exclusion makes societies less cohesive, feed social tension and triggers conflicts.

Social exclusion

Social exclusion refers to the state of being denied access to basic resources and goods and services. It emphasizes social marginalities and inequalities by suggesting an extensive approach to social disadvantage than the purely economic elements of poverty. Thus, exclusion can be social, political, cultural, or emotional. When socially excluded, the person is not just poor, but also denied the means to overcome poverty. This submission is corroborated by Levitas that social exclusion is:

“multi-causal, relational, and it includes less tangible aspects than poverty such as the loss of status, power, self-esteem and expectations… We might also add here that another important aspect of exclusion is political exclusion and the inability to influence decision making, which can be affected by a lack of resources, including time, telephones, transport and articulacy.”

The author also presents a list of dimensions and indicators of social exclusion (see tables 1 and 2). When analyzed within the context of the incidence of insurgency in Nigeria, it presents incontrovertible evidence that (a) social exclusion is prevalent in the northern part of Nigeria, and that (b) social exclusion is linked to the insurgency. Concerning the dimensions identified (resources, participation and quality of life), the north performs poorly with clear evidence of limited education, poverty and deprivation, low human development index, youth unemployment, susceptibility to crime, poor living environment, illiteracy, low income, limited training, limited health services and religious extremism.

Table 1: Dimensions of social exclusion

Table 2: Indicators of exclusion

Akinyetun & Ambrose substantiates the above views that exclusion is one of the major causes of extremism, rebellion and insurgency such as Boko Haram in Nigeria. This is because social exclusion reinforces the notion of marginalization, inequality and relative deprivation which, as Ted Gurr, argues, leads to frustration-aggression and violence (insurgency inclusive).

Way Forward

Given the above, the community leaders, civil society organizations and other stakeholders in the community must take active steps to address the state of weak social cohesion that permeates the Nigerian society. The material (food, housing and work) and non-material (feelings, beliefs, and morality) factors that influence social cohesion must be strengthened. Collective consciousness and an unperverted religious orientation that emphasizes a shared moral community must be indorsed. Doing this will reduce crime propensity in these communities and invariably reduce the incidence of insurgency in the country.

Also, the government at all levels must address social exclusion by paying attention to promoting social inclusion and social protection. Every member of society must be given access to sustainable employment opportunities and the opportunity to grow through the protection of their interests. Government should encourage youth political participation and engage youth in building social cohesion through involvement in decision making and community building. Youths should be made ambassadors of peace and be actively involved in peacebuilding processes across the various states.

Meanwhile, developmental programmes aimed at poverty reduction should be massively sponsored while the victims of Boko Haram attacks should be helped by the government through access to loan facilities. This will reduce the incidence of displacement and restore the social capital; manpower, of these communities.